Food and Crafts for All Occasions

Kvashenaya Kapusta, Russian Sauerkraut

Every year somewhere in the mid fall, Ilya and I make a batch of Russian style sauerkraut. It is called Kvashenaya Kapusta and tastes significantly less tart than regular sauerkraut. It is made only of shredded white cabbage, salt and carrots that are tossed together and then the nature does the rest with the lactic acid fermentation. You can eat it as it is, only lightly drizzled with unrefined sunflower oil, or use it for soups, salads, stews, and fillings for dumplings and pies.

Homemade Lox or Salt-n-Sugar Cured Salmon

Homemade lox is Ilya’s favorite snack. A piece of dark bread and several slices of the salmon and he is happy as a clam. For a weekend lunch, I cut croissants in half, spread some light whipped cream cheese on them (chèvre works great too!), top with thin avocado slices, some capers and, finally, with the lox. You  can eat the sandwich as is, open faced, or bring the halves together to form a tall closed one.

For a party, the cured salmon goes well with small rye toasts and sides of horseradish and sour cream or crème fraiche.

The good news about homemade lox is that it's surprisingly easy to make. It takes less than two days to cure it and almost zero effort. You can take any kind of wild salmon: king, sockeye, silver, whichever is available in a store.

Duck Rillettes

When I make rillettes, I usually make two batches - one meat and one poultry. My favorite poultry for rillettes is duck. I wouldn't mind at all to make one from goose hindquarters, but unfortunately they are not sold separately, whereas duck whole legs can be found in Asian supermarkets like Uwajimaya and Ranch 99.

Pork Rillettes

The colder it gets outside, the more time I spend in my kitchen cooking and baking. Nothing warms the house better than the heat from the running oven and stove.

This Wednesday I was heating the house by cooking a batch of rillettes. I’ve been making them every fall and winter for several years now, so it’s become a tradition.

Dulce de Membrillo, Last Call on Fall Harvest Preservation (continued)

As a devoted cheese lover, I’m always looking for new ways to make my cheese plate more fun. One of my most favorite finds is dulce de membrillo, a quince paste of Spanish origin.

Fall Harvest Preservation Time, Last Call

It’s the beginning of November, guys, the last opportunity to preserve whatever this fall gave us in terms of fruits and vegetables.

For me, it means sautéing and freezing chanterelles (which are pretty scarce this year), turning quince and apples into thick sliceable marmalade (dulce de membrillo and dulce de manzana), and oven drying and pickling the last batch of tomatoes from out little garden.

 

Chocolate Strawberry Jam

I’m not a particularly zealous fan of strawberry jams. When I need to preserve fresh strawberries, I puree them in a food processor with sugar, pour into containers and store in the freezer. However, this rich and luscious chocolate strawberry jam is an exception.